Arroyo says sorry to 'kissing bandit' who was shoved

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo apologised today to a Filipino fan who tried to kiss her during a visit to Kuwait but was blocked from doing so by her bodyguards.

A photograph of the man, dubbed the "kissing bandit" by newspapers, showed one of Arroyo's security guards shoving the man in the face as he approached the president.

"Maybe you saw a picture of a male Filipino worker who tried to steal a kiss from me, but was stopped by my aide. If he is your relative, please tell him sorry," Arroyo, 55, told relatives of overseas workers who welcomed her back in Manila after her two-day visit to Kuwait.

"But it is not really part of our culture that a man just gives a kiss to a woman," she added.

Arroyo tried to reassure worried families that their 60,000 relatives in Kuwait are in close touch with Philippine officials who have mapped out plans for their evacuation if war breaks out in neighbouring Iraq. ");document.write("

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Arroyo also thanked Kuwait's Emir Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah for pardoning 20 Filipino prisoners in Kuwait, and for allowing 200 Filipino workers to return home after they abandoned their employers in violation of their contracts.